Laurent Barth, Alsace

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Saina Nieminen

Saina Nieminen
I recently bought three wines from Laurent Barth. They seem to have a very good reputation but I see very little talk about them on-line. I wonder why that is? All three of these were very nice (even the Gewurz!).

2010 Domaine Laurent Barth Riesling Vieilles Vignes
12,5% abv. Light gold. A really attractive, very stylish aroma of white flowers and citrus and minerals. Really seems like a very pretty, classic Alsace Riesling. Dry, but ripe fruit so it isn't harsh or astringent, but it does have lovely acidity. Not perhaps at its most expressive even with extended exposure to air, so let these rest.
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2010 Domaine Laurent Barth Gewurztraminer Le Clos des Trois Chemins
13% abv. A very typical Gewurz aroma: rose water and lychee and all that. Rich, slightly sweet (no tech sheet available for this that I could find, but I would guess something like 20-25 g/l RS? - if anyone knows, do tell!), but also pretty good acidity for the grape. I would have preferred a lighter, more nervous style, but this is still perfectly fine for the grape (full disclosure: this grape isn't usually one I like, so a lukewarm recommendation from me might mean that those who do like the grape might find this pretty awesome).

2010 Domaine Laurent Barth Muscat
12,5% abv. This took some hours to really show itself, but when it did, it was a steely, mineral style of Muscat. This isn't just a grapey Muscat but is citric and acidic and light on its feet. Really quite lovely.
 
Otto, I spent some time yesterday looking for a fiche technique. I could not find one. Perhaps, because Barth does not maintain a website, he doesn't think in terms of assembling that kind of documentation?

Anyway, there certainly are websites of Barth's fans, who know some statistics about some of the wines, and Laurent himself has participated in several video interviews. But nothing I found pertained to this wine.
 
I spent four days in Alsace in July and found plenty of domains nobody's talking about but should (I vaguely remember the Barth name but didn't visit): Ernst Burn in Gueberschwihr, the two Weinszorns in Niedermohrschwihr, Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim among those I managed to visit.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
Burn and Sorg get plenty of press, in my recollection.
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Not around my parts at least. Norways is the 5th largest export market for German wine, yet the Norwegian importer gave up on Burn.
 
Burn's press here (Atlantic coast U.S.) is very modest. We drank through a case of his Riesling Clos St. Imer over the last decade, fwiw; some of the bottles were extremely good, some just good.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Burn's press here (Atlantic coast U.S.) is very modest. We drank through a case of his Riesling Clos St. Imer over the last decade, fwiw; some of the bottles were extremely good, some just good.
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I had an really excellent Pinot Noir St Imer (Goldert) 05 bought at 8 Euros at the domaine. Outperformed most Bourgogne Rouge I've had.
 
I never see Burn around here any more. Used to buy it a lot back in the late 90s early 00s but even then I only saw it at Acker and Columbus Circle.

I miss the old Columbus Circle Wines.
 
Excellent producer. The Gewurz La Chapelle 05 is outstanding (i secured a few bottles a couple of years ago on my way home from Chablis). This year I secured 28 bottles of Burn La Chapelle all in all (mostly 09) and brought home. What's a guy with an estate wagon let loose in Alsace supposed to do? There were also lots of Beyer, Mann, Weinzorn, Bott-Geyl and Sorg well stacked up in isolated bags with coolants, and not too hot weather.
 
05 is the only vintage I can find in the US (on WS) for Gewurtz; 04 for Riesling, priced at $40/bottle. It's obscurity here is surprising. Burn offers an inexpensive (low $20s) line, too, which I've seen around but not tried.
 
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